True Terror In The Dark
by Isabella Fire
Summary: When Greece's favorite cat comes to the World Meeting with the terrible news that Greece has gone missing, the countries go to investigate. But, they too become ensnared in the dark pit of the Minotaur's Maze, and separated from each other. As the dark gets stained with blood, the countries loose all hope of ever escaping from this Maze of Death...
1. Chapter 1: The Turmoil Begins

_"Of all the times for Greece to go missing, why now?"_ you think in disgust as you walk around the corner of the dusty brown remains of a building from the times of Ancient Greece. You and the other countries have been searching for Greece for several hours now and you were starting to get fed up. _"Just where on earth could he be?! He can't have that many places where he sleeps!"_

"Storm, come look at this!"

You look up at the sound of China's voice coming from a few feet away inside of a crumbling building. You hurry over to him.

"What is is?" you ask as you enter. You cough as the dust irritates your lungs. With a shake of your head, you wave off a worried China. "It's ok. The dust just irritates my lungs, that's all. So, what'd you find?" You look over to your boyfriend and see slight hurt in his amber eyes. With a smile, you put an arm around his waist and kiss him on the cheek. Locking eyes with him, the Chinese nation smiles warmly, joy evident on his face. He leans into you and kisses you lightly on the lips.

"Foot prints and cat tracks. They lead into this chamber aru," China replies, pulling away only slightly to point at the prints in the thick dust. As you crouch down to examine them you notice that they are fresh, only several hours old. You also notice that the foot prints belong to more than one pair of shoes. You shrug. You were only interested in finding Greece, not some stupid tourists who had managed to get themselves lost.

"I think that we've found out where Greece has gone to," you say with a smile and sigh of relief, straightening up. "Greece? It's me, Stormfire," you call out into the dark room. When there is no answer you frown and look around the corner. A cool wall of air hits your face, chilling you to the bone. You shudder and pull away from the door.

"What's wrong?" China asks you, putting a hand on your shoulder.

"Oh nothing, it's just cold, that's all," you respond, turning back towards the cold darkness and leaning in. "Dang it's dark," you mutter to yourself. You squint, trying to see if you could see anything. When that fails you close your eyes, listening for Greece's telltale snoring. Instead you hear fighting. You go rigid and your eyes fly open.

"What is it aru?" China questions you, carefully stepping over the prints and placing an arm around your shoulders.

"Fighting. Someone's fighting in there," you tell him, shaking your head. "We've go to find the others. They need to see this,"

~Down the corridors, past dried pools of blood and skeletons, down to the core of the maze~

Heracles ducks a blast of purple blue light from Romania, shooting one of his wooden arrows at the purple eyed counterpart of Vladimir Lupei. A yellow shield shimmers to life around Heracles and the Greek looks up to see Vladimir standing behind one of the columns, his red eyes sparking with an intense light. He mouths a few words and Heracles looks down and watches as his newest scars heal themselves. He was glad that both Vladmir and Gilbert had joined him on his quest to the center of the Minotaur's Maze. The Romanian and the Prussian were proving very useful in the fight against their three counterparts. Heracles shakes his head, shooting another arrow at his counterpart. He did not know what was happening, let alone how this happened. One moment he was walking down the corridor, entering a large square stone room, pillars at intervals all around the perimeter; in the center was a glowing blue portal. And the next moment the blue portal turned red and started spewing electricity.

With a loud crack, Heracles is hit in the chest by one of the electric bolts. He is thrown back, smacking into the pillar where Vladimir is hiding. Heracles blinks and shakes his head, slipping down onto the floor where he is joined by several cats, all of which are injured, some more severely than others.

"You keep away from my awesome friend!" Gilbert calls out, appearing out of nowhere to stand in front of Heracles. The Prussian takes a swing at Greece and Prussia, catching both across the chest. "Keseseseses...that's what you get for..." Gilbert trails off as he is hit in the chest by a ball of red light, falling to the floor. He looks up to see Romania standing over them. From behind the pillar, Vladimir appears, ducking down to join his companions.

"You vill leave us alone. Ve have done nothing to harm you," Vladimir says.

Heracles nods, "Yes, we do not want to fight you,"

Greece grins an evil grin, "You will have to fight us. Or else you will die!"

Heracles, Gilbert, and Vladimir watch as their three counterparts turn around and vanish into the portal. With his green eyes wide, Heracles watches the red portal expand, electricity crackling off of it. He moves his hands to rest on Vladimir's and Gilbert's arms, gripping his companions tightly. Then there is a bright flash of red light and Heracles blacks out.

~Several minutes later when all the present countries have been assembled~

You quickly scan the room one last time, making sure that everyone was present. America, Canada, yourself, China, Japan, Britain, France, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Romano, Spain, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam. _"Good, everyone's here,"_ you think, giving a sharp nod.

"Come on China, Stormfire, tell us what you've found!" America exclaims, his voice echoing around the room.

"Not so loud you bloody git," Britain snaps.

"Oui, I agree. You need to learn to be more refined, like me," France says with a flip of his hair.

Britain turns around to glare at France. "You! Refined? Ha! At least he keeps his clothes on!"

"What?! Are you insulting my culture?"

"No, I'm insulting you as a person, you frog!"

"Don't call me that, you black sheep of Europe!"

"Why you-!" England trails off as he starts to fight with France. The fight is broken off when there is a loud, dull, sound of metal hitting flesh. You look over to see Hungary, her frying pan out, standing over France.

"France, England, please don't fight. Ve have more important things to do," she says, looking over at you and nodding. You smile and nod back.

"We think that we've found where Greece is. Except," you say, raising your voice above the sudden hubbub of noise in the room. You clear your throat loudly, and wait for things to quiet down before continuing. "Thank you. As I was saying, we think we know where Greece is except for one little thing. We hear fighting in there instead of snoring. And not just bickering-fighting, actual fighting," you finish, letting your narrowed gaze fall on Britain and France.

"Let the hero go in and check it out!" America cries out again, forgetting to lower his voice.

"I think we shord arr go in," Japan says quietly. Raising a hand to signal for silence, he continues, "That way we arr have the chance of finding Greece,"

"But how will we know when Greece has been found?" Latvia asks, glancing nervously at Russia.

"I'll use my magic to set a spell that will pull us all out when Greece is found," Britain says, rubbing his hands together.

When the countries start muttering again you roll your eyes and groan. "Alright, I think that that'll work. Britain, Norway? You can do that?" you ask, your voice raised so everyone could hear you. When the two countries nod you sigh. "Good. As soon as that is done we'll head into the...room and go and look for Greece,"

When you finish talking, Britain and Norway get to work setting up a spell to pull everyone out when Greece is found. Meanwhile, everyone else starts separating into groups. You smile as everyone pairs up in the usual manor. America and Canada move over to where you and China were, Japan, Germany, and Italy move towards each other, Spain and Romano stay together arguing over...something. _"Probably tomatoes,"_ you think, shrugging. Russia was with his sister's Ukraine and Belarus while Poland was with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

You smile as you overhear Poland speaking to the Baltic's. "This is, like, so totally cool. I mean, I get to work with you, Liet, and your brothers exploring a wickedly scary maze. This is so cool,". You laugh quietly as you hear Lithuania complains that "We're not brothers, Poland. We don't even like the same food," before continuing to scan the room. The Nordic nations teamed up, Austria was with Hungary, and Switzerland was with Liechtenstein. Taiwan was with South Korea and Vietnam and Turkey was on his own while France would team up with Britain, once the Brit was finished with his spell. Norway, as a Nordic nation, would join in with the others from his region.

"We're ready," Britain announces, looking up. Norway nods.

"Alright then. Let's go," you say, entering the dark room. Your eyes go wide when the walls light up with little lights. "Well then, at least that'll make things a little easier," you comment to your group as you move into the main chamber and make a left down one of the myriad of corridors that branched off.

"I think that it was designed to do that," Canada says quietly, looking up at the glowing lights. No sooner had Canada finished speaking when the lights began to flicker. You groan and shake your head, knowing that it was too good to be true when your vision starts to blur. You reach out to your left for China only to discover that he was not there. You shake your head and open your mouth to ask America where China was when you black out.


	2. Chapter 2: 9(plus)11(equals)11-5

"Stormfire? Stormfire?" a soft voice says, breaking through the blackness in your head like a pick through ice. You moan softly, feeling firm yet gently hands gripping your shoulders. The sweet smell of pancakes fills your nostrils, reminding you of one person.

"Canada?" you ask, slowing opening your eyes. You squint upward, blinded by the bright light. Slowly you see Canada leaning over you. You sit up, wincing as your back smarts. "Where are we?" you ask him, confused by all of the tall buildings and loud noise.

"New York City," he tells you, helping you to your feet.

"No, this isn't New York," you say, shaking your head. "Sure the building's are tall and there is noise everywhere, but the building's aren't straight enough, it doesn't help that they're a dull red color. I can't see where this street goes in either direction, which is wrong since New York is laid out in a grid pattern. And yet, even with all of these dull colors it is overly bright. Oh, and it reeks of something dead,"

"I know, right? This is so not New York," America's unmistakable loud voice carries over to them. "And, dude, come and look at this!" he adds suddenly, amazement in his voice. Nervous because of your surroundings you hurry over to America. You look over to where he was pointing and gasp.

"No...those...those fell! They collapsed when-" you start to say, your voice catching in your throat when a plane appears in the sky. Your left hand, which was on Canada's forearm, clenches, while your other covers your mouth.

"Oh, God, no" America whispers, his eyes going wide with fear. He hisses in pain, clutching at his upper left arm as the plane in the sky collides with one of the towers. A second plane appears soon after and collides with the second tower. No sooner had the second pane crashed than a huge, blue-white fireball erupts from the two towers. Shocked, you look over at America to see him clutching his left forearm. With a gasp, you notice blood seeping through the thick leather of his bomber jacket. A shiver runs down your spine as you remember that day, roughly 12 years ago...

_"No, big brother, don't go! Don't leave me here alone! I'm scared," you beg, your 8-year-old voice growing high pitched in anxiety and terror._

_"I must. They need a hero now, which would be me," America says gently, kneeling down and hugging you to his chest. The 'they' were the rescue workers rushing to the two collapsing towers to help the people there. "Just stay right here and don't move. I'll be back as soon as I can," he gets up, leaving you at the corner of the street. Quickly he jogs towards the towers..._

A loud, obnoxious, laugh shatters your flash back, jerking you back into reality. _"That sounded like America,"_ you realize, shocked. You look down at America, only to realize that he was to...was shocked an appropriate word...to have uttered that laugh. That and the laugh obviously came from a short distance down the road. You shift your position and see two men heading your way. You gulp, looking nervously at Canada. A sense that you didn't know you had starts screaming 'Danger! Danger!'. As sweat forms on your brow, you raise a shaking hand to wipe it away, knowing what you must do. "Matthew..." you say quietly, calling Canada by his human name. Canada looks over at you in shock, "Alfred...we're going to be getting visitors and I don't have a good feeling about them," you say quietly, jerking your head towards the two approaching men, "I think that it would be best if we use our human names now...until we find the others...and even then still..." you trail off as the two men come to a halt in a patch of sunlight in front of you.

The guy who was to the left looked surprisingly like Canada, except for the bad vibe that you got from him. His hair was long and blond, and was kept back in a loose ponytail. On top of his head were a pair of sunglasses that could be brought down to hide a pair of hard purple eyes. His outfit was one of the Canadian Mounties, except that it was covered in old blood stains. In his right hand he was holding a bandaged hockey stick, also with old blood stains on it.

The other guy looked slightly like America, but, just like his companion, you felt a bad vibe coming off of him. His hair was dark brown and in the same style that America kept his. His eyes were a cold red and could be covered by a pair of sunglasses that rested on top of his head. His skin was tanned and his outfit almost matched that of America's, except for two details. A red star replaced the white one on the left side of the jacket and an atomic bomb image was in place of the airplane on the left sleeve. The jacket was covered in blood stains. He also carried a base ball bat that was wrapped up and had nails sticking out of it that had old blood stains on it.

"So, what do we have here?" the guy who resembles America says, "A slut perhaps? Hanging out with her two guys?"

"I am no slut you rude bastard," you snarl back, feeling the hair on the back of your neck stand on end as you spoke.

"I don't believe you, you little bitch. Don't be so rude to someone who can easily beat you up. You're too pretty to be hanging out here with those..."

"Don't...you...dare," you snarl, your voice dangerously low. You let go of Matthew and Alfred and pull out your shovel.

"Oh, so the damn little bitch wants to play then? Alright, so be it..." the guy says, leaping at you, swinging his bat wide. You snarl and meet the bat half way, attempting to push it away. You grunt as your grip slips, letting the bat move closer. As you put all of your weight into the bat you feel your feet slip and you fall onto your back. You just manage to prevent the bat from taking off your head. With an evil grin on his face, you watch the bat get closer, and closer, and closer...until a brown gloved hand grabs at the base of the bat and shoves it away from you. Gentle hands help you to your feet as you look and see Alfred, a look of hatred in his eyes.

"No one hurts my sister," he says, putting a hand on your arm. You look down at his left hand and see it balled up into a fist.

"Just who do you think you are?" Matthew asks, stepping forward so that he was slightly in front of you.

The guy with the bat gets to his feet and brushes off his jacket. "Why should we..."

"He's America and I'm Canada," the other guy says, shooting his companion a cold look. "Who are you to be walking around during such a calamity?"

"My name is Isabella, and these are my brothers Matthew and Alfred," you say quickly, glancing to each brother in turn. They both nod at you imperceptibly.

"We got lost walking around," Matthew says, eyeing the other Canada with suspicion. "My brother here got into a fight and was injured...we are just trying to get him back to our house,"

Alfred glares at the other America, angling himself so you were put behind him. You watch as the other America just laughs. "Come on Canada...let's get them,"

With quick reflexes honed in the underwater prison, Matthew leaps in front of you, taking the blow from Canada's hockey stick. Ducking around Matthew, you swing your shovel into Canada's legs, causing them to buckle. Instead of collapsing, however, he swings his legs upward, connecting with both Matthew's and your chests, sending you both back to slam into the building's across the street. As blood starts to blur your vision you watch as Alfred ducks and doges America's bat, landing the occasional blow with a fist or a foot. You look over at Matthew only to find him unconscious. You struggle to your feet, pulling out your gun and shooting at America, both to distract him and get Alfred's attention. Whey you brother looks over at you, you jerk your head down at Matthew. Back-flipping, Alfred quickly lands by your side, taking up a fighter's crouch, finally pulling out his black pistol. Quickly, you turn back around and go to Matthew's side.

"Damn it, that Canada's foot hit him right underneath the chin so that when we hit the wall, his head hit would the wall, knocking him out," you say, shooting point blank at Canada in your fury. He looks over at you, then over at America. With an evil smile, America laughs and the two converge on you and Alfred.

"They're not going to give up, they don't seem like the type," Alfred says over his shoulder.

"Thank you mister obvious! But what are we going to do? We can't go on fighting them forever!"

"Well...we retreat!" Alfred cries, pivoting on his feet and diving for Matthew, scooping him up and slinging him over one shoulder. With his right arm he grabs your left arm and runs down a random side street. Behind you, you could hear swearing, more swearing than you have ever heard in your life. Then you hear footsteps as the two other countries follow you and Alfred and Matthew. Terror replacing all sense of rational at that point, you speed up, running for your life away from two enemies who, it seemed, would stop at nothing to kill you and your brothers.


	3. Chapter 3: Two Faced Blood

"Germany? I don't-a like this. I have a very bad feeling about this," Italy says, clutching to Germany's arm and staring at the dusty, silent, and cold stone walls in fear. Germany sighs and pushes Italy off of his arm.

"Nothing bad is going to happen, don't vorry," Germany remarks as the lights start to flicker.

"Aaahhh! Germany!" Italy cries, leaping onto Germany.

"Itary, prease stay carm, there's nothing to worry about..." Japan says calmly from Germany's left. When his voice strangely trails off in the semi-darkness, Germany looks over to where Japan had been walking.

"Japan? Are you...? Japan?! Vhat the hell?! Vhere is he?!" Germany exclaims in shock.

"Germany? What's-a wrong? Where's Japan?!" Italy's voice starts to rise in panic as the brown haired Italian realized that his friend Japan had disappeared.

Germany places his hands on Italy's shoulders and forces the terrified Italian around. "Italy, look at me! Calm down! Ve've got to go find Japan!..." Germany's voice trails off and Italy cries out in terror as the lights black out. Italy falls down onto his knees, unconscious, and is caught by Germany.

"Italy? Italy! Come on, vake up..." Germany starts to say, falling to his knees, blacking out.

~Later~

Italy moans as he comes to. He was on the ground...on green grass and surrounded by trees. The sky was a clear blue, and there was little cloud cover. Italy sits up with a gasp. "Germany?" Italy cries out. A soft moan from the trees to his left attracts his attention. "Germany?" he cries, rushing over to where the sound originated from.

"Italy? Is that you?" Germany says, getting slowly to his feet. He leans against a tree trunk.

"Yes, It's me. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

A loud cackle splits the air. Italy goes rigid and turns around, staring into the trees, a terrified gleam in his open brown eyes. "Germany, what ever you do, don't use your country name, ok? I...I think that I know who's-a coming,"

"Oh-o..ok then," Germany says, stuttering slightly. He watches as first one, then two figures emerge from the trees.

"So, we meet again Feliciano," the darker haired one says, his hard, light purple eyes reflecting a dark, murderous, light, "How did you get teleported here, hmm? Ah, and Ludwig, it is nice to see you again too,"

"Vhat? I've never met you before in my life!" Ludwig exclaims in shock, looking over at Feliciano, who was just as surprised.

"Italy, vhat are you talking about? How can you have met these scum before?" Italy's companion asks.

"Why should I tell-a you?! I have my ways!" Italy snaps pulling out a blood stained knife.

Feliciano looks over at the other Italy. He was wearing a brown Italian brigade uniform, and was obviously holding a knife. Besides that, his hair was a dark brown and his eyes were a hard light purple. Feliciano shakes his head. He had never met this 'other self' before, yet he felt like he had. He steps closer to Ludwig, observing his opposite.

Ludwig's opposite had still had blond hair but it was kept underneath a hat, and he also had hard light purple eyes. He still had the Teutonic Knight Cross on a chain around his neck. He wore a white undershirt and had a tan jacket hanging from his shoulders. His pants were a dark brown.

"Alright, I get it. You probably snuck into their vord somehow. But vhere from," Germany says, backing away from Italy's knife.

"I'm not telling someone like you!" he snaps back, turning his knife on Feliciano and Ludwig. "So, how would you like to die?"

"How about by the point of my awesome sword?" All four countries look around as Prussia steps out of the bushes. "You just keep that filthy knife off of my brother and his little friend!"

"Gilbert! Vhere have you been?" Ludwig asks, looking his brother straight in the eye and giving him a 'Call us by our human names' look.

Gilbert nods almost imperceptibly. "I can ask the same of you," he responds, going up to Feliciano and Ludwig and standing between them, his sword pointed towards Italy and Germany.

"Well, I hate to break up the little reunion, but I have better things that I can be doing right now," Italy says, running at the trio.

The two brothers take up fighting stances while Feliciano cowers behind Ludwig. _"I wonder how Japan is doing?"_ he thinks as Italy attacks them.


	4. Chapter 4: Defeat Of Red Sun

"China? Are you arright?" a gently accented voice asks. China slowly opens his eyes to see Japan.

"Japan?" China asks, trying to sit up. He grits his teeth in pain as his left side spasms.

"Carefur, you are badry injured," Japan says, placing a hand on China's back and helping his brother to sit up.

"Thanks. Where are we aru?" China queries, looking around. Just behind Japan was the ocean, and just in front of that a steep drop to where the ocean beat against the rocks. China turns his head and sees trees stretching up the hill side behind him.

"I do not know," Japan answers truthfully. He grips China's right arm as the older country slowly gets to his feet. "One moment I was with Germany and Itary trying to carm Itary down when the rights started to fricker, and the next thing I know I am waking up here,"

"I know. I was with Stormfire, Canada, and America when I blacked out aru. I wonder where they are aru?"

"I do not know. But where ever they are, I hope they are ok. And I hope that the others are ok as well,"

"Should we go and look for them aru? Japan?"

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I am getting a strange feering. Rike we are being watched,"

China falls silent and feels the air like Japan was doing. Soon a strange feeling overcomes him. "You are right! I get feeling too aru!" China remarks, feeling the grip that Japan had on his arm tighten. "Japan?"

"Prease, don't carr me that. Carr me Kiku. I have this...feering..."

"I know," China says, moving his left hand over to rest on top of Kiku's right hand. China smiles gently at Kiku. "You know my name aru,"

"Yes...Yao," Kiku says, gently moving his right hand over to his katana, drawing, and pointing his weapon towards the trees. "Whoever you are, show yourserf!"

A gentle laughing issues from the trees. "Fast, but not fast enough," a Japanese accent says. There is a rustle as the tree branches sway, as if from the quick passage of someone.

"Kiku, I am going to fight with you aru. I may be injured, but I can still fight aru,"

"Ok," Kiku says, releasing Yao's arm. The two countries go back to back as Yao pulls out his wok.

As if that had been a cue not just one, but two figures appear from the bushes. Yao feels Kiku shift in shock, and his muscles tense. Yao knew that he was no better. He could feel the grip on his wok tighten and knew that sweat was forming on his brow. He watched as a near mirror image of himself took a proud stance. _"What is this place?! That guy looks almost...like me!"_ Yao thinks, shock and fear rising inside him. With sudden resolution, he forces his feelings back down. He was not going to get scared now, not when he was face-to-face with himself.

Looking over the other China now, Yao notices that, for all they looked similar physically, there were many things that varied. For one, his eyes were a dark red and his brown hair was cropped short, as opposed to Yao's long hair or soft amber eyes. He also wore a brown hat, on the front of which was a blood-red spot. His cloths, although in a traditional style, were also blood-red with the edges being black. Over his left arm he wore a completely red armband, instead of Yao's red armband with a gold star on it. His choice of weapon was still a wok, however, it is stained with blood.

Kiku, meanwhile, is also looking over his near mirror image while trying to keep his cool. This other Japan has red eyes that stared coldly. His jacket is black and gold and adds to the aura of intenseness that radiated from him. Finally instead of just one katana, he had two.

Kiku feels Yao tense up and shift his position as he raised his weapon. Kiku did the same, leveling his katana at his opponent. "Why have you brought us here?" Kiku asks, being the first to speak up.

"We wanted you to re rive a most painfur time in both of your rives," Japan says, looking over at China. "A time when trust was broken. When brotherry rove was betrayed..."

"A time when you felt that there was no need to live anymore," China says, looking Yao straight in the eye.

Yao gulps audibly, going rigid. Kiku's soulless, dark brown eyes go wide in shock as he thinks back through his history. He gasps softly when he realizes what Japan and China were referring to...the First Sino-Japanese War. When he, Kiku, gave his brother that terrible scar on his back.

"The First Sino-Japanese War..." Yao says audibly, a tremor in his voice. His breathing quickens as he has visions of that day that Kiku attacked him, coming up the gravel path, looking slightly nervous. The katana that had attacked him was the one that Kiku still carried around, Yao knew. It had bothered him for centuries, but it didn't anymore.

"I'm not going to attack my brother," Kiku says angrily, his eyes narrowing. "That is past. I defend him with arr my honor,"

Yao smiles slightly, "And I will defend my brother...with all _my_ honor aru," he says, glaring at China.

"So, you wirr not attack each other. Very werr," Japan says, pulling out his katana blades, both of which were stained with blood. "I can use your brood to add to my correction," he says in a quiet, evil, tone, running at Kiku. Japan raises his two blades, left lower than right, and moves them in a cutting action aiming for Kiku's throat. Kiku raises his katana and blocks the cut, pushing against the blades and letting them slide a little before shoving them back at their owner. He then kicks his left foot out, landing a nice kick to the underside of Japan's right knee, causing the other to unbalance. Using this to his advantage, Kiku swipes his sword cutting the other's uniform across the middle. Blood wells up slowly from the long cut as the other right's himself. "Very good," he says, "But can you survive against the darkness?"

Once again, Japan rushes at Kiku. But this time he leaps into the air, landing in one of the trees. Kiku snarls, taking a defensive crouch, refusing to leap up and after the other. He hears a laugh from the trees, and looks around, trying to pinpoint it when he is knocked off center. He looks down at his right side and sees blood welling from a deep cut. The laugh comes again, mockingly, from the trees...

Yao swings his wok with the cry of "Aiyaaa!" at China, hitting the other's wok. China smiles. "You will never win against me. Pure evil will win, it always does,". Instead of answering, Yao lets his wok slide when he feels Kiku couch. He narrows his eyes. He was not going to let himself lose this war agin, especially now that his brother was on his side. With an evil grin, China pushes against Yao's wok, only to overbalance when Yao suddenly removes his weapon. Swiftly, Yao brings his wok down onto China's back, forcing the other farther away. China flips backward, preparing himself to run at Yao.

Yao feels Kiku lurch when he is his by Japan's katana. Quickly shifting his position, Yao protects Kiku as the other regains his balance. Taking a slight step back, Yao bumps lightly into Kiku, tensing himself. With a twitch of his right arm, Kiku tenses his legs before spinning around to where Yao was. In return, Yao flips up and backward, taking Kiku's place. He hears Japan make a noise of surprise from above in the trees. Dropping into a crouch, he raises his wok as Japan falls at him from above. Bracing himself, Yao swings his wok, hitting Japan and sending him into a tree. With a shake of his head, Japan runs at Yao. Swinging his wok, Yao connects with only one of Japan's katana's. _"Where's the other?"_ he wonders before sensing it coming at him from above. Before he can react, it slices down his back, cutting open the ancient scar from those centuries ago. With a gasp, Yao falls to his knees, hands slipping inside of his wok. He feels the other katana slice another cut down his back, doubling the pain...

Kiku feels the whoosh of air as the katana came down behind him. With a swing of his katana at China, Kiku pushes his blade against the other's wok. Hearing a gasp, Kiku feels Yao fall to the ground. With sudden fear, Kiku could only guess what had happened. Somehow Japan had managed to land a blow on Yao's back where his old scar was. Behind him, Kiku heard Yao let out a whimper of pain and shift back towards Kiku. Throwing China's wok back, Kiku shifts his position so that his feet were right up against Yao. He feels anger rise inside of him. Anger that he had never felt before. He narrows his eyes, taking control of his anger, yet letting it control him. "No one hurts my brother rike that," he says, his brown eyes hard with anger and covered by a red haze, "Not without punishment,".

With a swing of his katana, Kiku slashes China across the chest, digging in to make the wound deep and painful. When he pulls out the katana, he swings it again, slicing it down China's arms, then legs, each time splitting the skin so that it pealed back to reveal the red of blood underneath. Turning to Japan, Kiku slashes his katana down Japan's neck, starting from the left, going down his chest and to his right leg. In shock, Japan stumbles backward. "We wirr meet again," he says shortly before ducking around Kiku and Yao and vanishing into the forest with China.

Panting hard, Kiku feels the red haze life from him. He puts away his katana and, moving around to Yao's head, kneels down next to his brother. "Yao?" he asks, placing a hand on his brother's neck, feeling for a pulse. He feels one just as Yao moves his head and tries to sit up. Quickly, Kiku gently grabs a hold of Yao. He drapes one of Yao's arms over his shoulder, and gently grabs at his left side.

"It's ok. The pain masks most everything aru," Yao says, moving his left hand slowly, first putting his wok away before pushing Kiku's left hand farther up his side.

"We must go somewhere where you can hear," Kiku says as they move into the trees. Yao just nods, clinging onto Kiku.

"Kiku," Yao says, looking over at the other nation.

"Yes,"

"Thank you for helping me aru. I would not have survived had it not been for you,"

"Oh, that's very kind of you. To be honest, I got rearry mad when I saw...werr me...hurting you. It brought back unwanted memories of...of...of the time I hurt you. I didn't want that to happen to you again,"

Yao smiles, wincing slightly in pain. "Just then, when you got mad, I've never seen you get that way before, you looked almost...almost like him aru. But not in a bad way. You were protecting me aru," Yao says, looking over at Kiku. Kiku, in turn, looks towards Yao and the two lock eyes. Kiku could see that Yao's eyes were full of pain, terrible pain, but not anguish. Not like when he, Kiku, had attacked his brother that terrible day. Kiku never thought that he could forget the look of pain and overwhelming anguish and betrayal in Yao's eyes. But this look...this look..._"I've finarry started to make up for betraying my brother arr those centuries ago. By protecting him today I showed him that I stirr care for him. Stirr rove him as a brother."_

"No matter what happens, we'll be together, right Kiku aru?"

"Right,"


	5. Chapter 5: Blood United

"Romano? Romano, wake up!" Spain says, placing his hands on Romano's shoulders and shaking the unconscious Italian. "Nothing. I hope he wakes up soon,"

It had been an hour since the pair had woken on the beach near the ruins of what Spain guessed was Pompeii. He didn't quite know since he had never been to visit Pompeii before. He knew that Romano would know...if he ever woke up. Once again Spain places a hand on Romano's throat, feeling for a pulse. It was there, just weak. Spain mops at his brow, wiping away dried blood as he does. He hoped that his counterpart did not return; from that red and gold uniform to that blood stained sword, Spain had never fought so hard for his life before. Things had only gotten worse once Romano had gotten shot on his left collar bone by his counterpart.

Spain sighs and sits down next to Romano, looking around the large room. The walls were all covered and surrounding an opening where a messy garden grew. All the walls were painted in what Spain guessed were once great frescos. He sighs and shakes his head. "If only Romano would wake up, show me that he's ok. I can't believe that I let him get shot. I should've been working harder to protect him. I know that he can battle, he has fought me before. I just don't understand why he didn't fight harder!" Spain sighs in mild frustration, looking down at Romano. His green eyes fill with hope when Romano shifts and lets out a moan. "Romano?"

"Spain? Is that-a you, you bastard?"

Spain smiles at Romano's familiar name for him. "Si, it's me. How do you feel?"

"Terrible. What happened?"

"After you got shot?"

"Of course, you idiota! What else would I-a mean!" Romano snaps, looking up at Spain. "You're...you're injured..."

"Yes. After you were shot I continued to fight both of our counterparts. They backed away only after my counterpart cut me here," Spain says, tentatively touching the deep, still bleeding, wound on his chest across where his heart was. The cut starts up on the left side of his neck and goes down to his right side. His brown uniform, as a result, was bloody and cut nearly in two. Spain shrugs, "What mattered is that they left! They left because I played dead. Once they were gone, I brought you up the beach to here. I think that it's called Pompeii,"

"Of course it's Pompeii!" Romano snaps, wincing slightly. He glares at Spain when the Spaniard moves to help him. "I'm alright. Just-a leave me alone,"

"Oh, Romano, you need to lighten up and learn when to trust others,"

Romano glares at Spain. He was grateful to the Spaniard for helping him, he just didn't want Spain to know it. With a sigh, he grits his teeth, "Thank you for saving me," he remarks, looking away from Spain.

"Ah, I knew you'd come around eventually!" Spain says happily, helping Romano to sit up. The dark haired Italian grumbles, but for once doesn't snap at Spain's remark. Instead, a look of pain crosses his face and he clutches at his left side.

"Romano? What's wrong?" Spain asks, kneeling down and putting a hand on Romano's right shoulder. Spain gently moves Romano's hand and sees blood staining the brown uniform. "Romano! How-?"

"It's my brother. He's been stabbed,"

"What?! Ita?!"

"Yes," Romano says quietly. He leans back against the wall, a look of worry and pain crossing his face. Spain had never seen Romano like this before. So worried about his brother. "When I was unconscious, I dreamed I was with Veneziano. He was with that potato eating bastard and his brother. They were fighting people who...who looked like them. I-a think that the battle ended with Veneziano getting stabbed by his look alike,"

Spain looks into Romano's brown eyes, seeing pain and worry there. "We will find them. Oh, I should be calling you Lovino, shouldn't I," Spain says with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Antonio, you were always-a bad at hiding hiding your emotions," Lovino comments, "I know that you are happy that I am awake,"

"But of course! You were once my underling!"

Lovino shakes his head, at a complete loss at what to say.


	6. Chapter 6: 100 Miles of Cupcakes

"Damn it! Why won't that bloody counterpart of mine just leave us alone?!" England gasps.

"It 'appened after you insulted 'is cupcakes," France replies, quickly glancing over at England.

"Well, you're the one who wouldn't even take one! If I wasn't so tired I would've strangled you by now,"

"Being in ze water swimming for our lives wasn't ze smartest thing either," France says, quickly glancing back over his shoulder at the fast approaching life boat.

"Well, what else did you expect me to do?! Let us get stabbed by that overly happy, fluorescent me?!" England snaps.

France sighs. Waking up in a boat, after you had just been in a near-black corridor with someone who looked like a England gone crazy leaning over you was not the best way to wake up. France remembered his shock upon seeing this England, with his fluorescent blue eyes and bow tie, fluorescent pink shirt, light brown pants, and strawberry blond hair. At least his counterpart was more descent looking, except for the cigarette. The other France still had blond hair, but had light purple eyes and all purple clothing as well as a five o'clock shadow.

Happy laughter floated to them over the light ocean breeze. "You can't run for ever chaps. You must come to taste one of my cupcakes sometime!"

England groans. "Francis," he says to France, using the Frenchman's human name, " I think that we should stop bickering and focus on escaping,"

"Oui, I agree...Arthur," Francis replies. The two swim in silence, with the only noise being the taunts from England behind them. Finally, Arthur mutters a few words before swearing.

"What is wrong?" Francis asks.

"My magic won't work here! Damn it, if only I could cast a spell that would make us less tired!"

"I admit, zat would be nice," Francis admits. His arms and legs had been feeling like lead for the past few minutes.

"Francis! Arthur! Over here!" a loud voice calls out over the water.

"Alfred?" Arthur says, looking over at Francis before looking in the direction of the call. "It's Alfred, look, over there on the shore with Matthew and Isabella and...who is that?"

"Arthur, look!" Francis says in shock, "Isabella and 'er companion are jumping into ze water. I think zat zey are coming zis way!"

Arthur and Francis watch as Isabella and her companion swim their way. Isabella motions her companion towards Francis while she herself moves towards Arthur. "We're going to help you two to shore," she says, putting a shoulder up against Arthur's left side and letting the Englishman put an arm around her shoulders.

With a nod, Arthur lets Isabella guide him to shore. He was grateful that he and Francis had run into help so soon. When they arrive at the shore, which was a boat dock, Isabella climbs out and kneels down and, with Alfred's help, pulls Arthur out of the water. Not waiting for any thanks, Isabella grabs Arthur by the arm and runs; away from the dock and into the side streets.

~Several minutes later~

Gasping and panting, the little group comes to a halt inside of an old, run down building. The newest addition to the group, a young 22 year old called Elizabeth Shesha, calls this place home.

"Oh, don't worry, they can't find us here," she tells her companions.

"Are you sure?" Alfred asks, looking out a dusty window.

Elizabeth turns around from locking the wooden door. "Yes! I've been living here most of my life," she says to Alfred, walking over to you. You smile at her, shifting over on the faded blue sofa so she could sit next to you. You liked Elizabeth, but not like how you felt for China. This feeling was almost...sisterly. As if you had found a long lost sister. You have had that feeling ever since Elizabeth saved you, Matthew, an Alfred from America and Canada. You look to your right as Elizabeth sits down next to you.

"You never did tell us how you came to live here," you say, shifting slightly again to look at her.

"Well, I was in Italy exploring the ruins of some city when I came across this building. It was full of dust and a fresh set of footprints. I followed the footprints and ended up here in New York. Like you, I had a close encounter with America and Canada, but I didn't end up fighting them," she explains.

"How old were you?" Arthur asks, sitting down on one of the chairs. He nervously glances out the window as he speaks.

"I was 16 when I arrived here, and I am 22 now. Do the math," she replies, fussing with her Samurai Sword as she speaks.

"Just where did you get those weapons then?" you ask her.

"The bow and arrows I found here. The sword I found a few blocks from here," she answers. You look at the silver bow and matching silver arrows that were strapped to her yellow and orange splattered sweatshirt. She raises a hand and pushes at a strand of straight, brown hair that had fallen across her face. She takes of her headband, a bright green one, and re-sets her hair. "So, just how did you get here?" she questions, looking around.

You sigh as you look around, realizing that you would have to tell the story. You nod and start to speak...


	7. Chapter 7: Water Stained Red

With a swing of his right fist, Emil punches the counterpart of his brother in the jaw. "No one hurts my brother," he says quietly, glaring at his opponent, his ice blue eyes going hard. He watches as his opponent wipes at his mouth, removing a faint trickle of blood from the corner. From the corner of his eye, Emil sees Tino drop to his knees and help Lukas to a sitting position. Returning his full attention to his enemy, Emil pulls out his dagger, the deep blue hilt shining in the noon-day sun.

"You want to fight then," the counterpart of Lukas says, raising his hands, "very well,". Narrowing his eyes, Norway mutters an incantation under his breath before shoving his hands at Emil, Lukas, and Tino. Emil grits his teeth and tries to resist the pain that starts to fill him, reminding himself that he could not show any emotion in front of his brother, no matter how bad the pain was.

"You are strong," Norway observes, his red eyes sparkling evilly, "Shall we see how you react to a death spell?" he says, turning his attention over to Lukas. Emil's eyes go wide, fear making an appearance in their blue depths. He steps back towards his brother.

"To kill him you go through me," he says simply, pointing his dagger at Norway. Behind him Tino helps Lukas to his feet...

Lukas looks over at Tino and nods imperceptibly. With an unusual glint in his brown eyes, Tino nods quickly back, moving up to Emil's side. Without saying a word, Tino drops into a fighter's crouch, also pulling out a dagger with a decorated red and white hilt. _ "I must help them,"_ Lukas thinks, _"But how? Without my magic I am nothing. But I cannot let my brother fight alone,"_. Determination in his blue-purple eyes, Lukas steps forward and places a hand on Emil's shoulder. With a nod, Emil shifts to his right slightly.

"This is touching," Tino's counterpart says, his light purple eyes full of mocking. "Shall we kill them the old fashioned way? Iceland? Norway?"

The other two countries nod silently, each pulling out a weapon. Tino watches them, his gaze narrowed. He didn't like fighting, but if it was the only way to protect a friend, he would fight. He lets his gaze run the length of the ship they were on. The wood creaks and groans and the sail flaps slowly in the breeze. A flash of metal past his left ear jerks Tino back to the battle at hand. With the coldness of the steel in his hand in his eyes, Tino ducks another sword swipe from Finland and stabs, sinking his dagger into the other's stomach. With a jerk of his wrist, Tino tears Finland's flesh up to the collar bone.

With a gasp, Finland falls back, surprised at the amount of damage done. Hitting the mast, he swings his sword, slicing Tino deep across the upper chest, right underneath his collar bone. Continuing the movement, Finland swings his sword back, slicing the skin across Tino's heart. A third swing cuts Tino's back as the nation falls to his knees. Blood gushes from his wounds in a slow flood...

"Tino!" Emil gasps as he sees his friend fall. With new fire in his eyes, Emil slices Iceland across the cheek and kicks him in the stomach, sending his opponent halfway to the other side of the ship. Emil looks up in shock as a protective field shimmers to life around him. Looking around, Emil sees Lukas on his hands and knees, his eyes screwed shut and a look of intense concentration on his face. Somehow Lukas had managed to find his magic, Emil did not know how, but that didn't matter at the moment. Dropping to his knees next to Tino, the Icelandic feels his friend's neck for a pulse. "Tino? Tino, please..." he says, tears starting to come to his eyes.

"E...Emil?" Tino whispers in a barley audible voice.

"Yes," Emil responds with a smile, "Don't do that, I thought you were dead,"

A faint smile crosses Tino's lips as he looks over at Emil. "Me too," is all he says as he tries to push himself upright. With a quick hand movement, Emil helps his friend to a sitting position. The Icelandic's eyes go wide as he sees the amount of blood on the front of Tino's blue uniform. Tino looks down at his chest, a sad expression on his face. "For once, I don't think that I'm going to survive," he comments, leaning into his friend and slowing sinking back into the wall of the ship. He sighs and closes his eyes.

"No...no...Tino, no..." Emil says, hand flying to his Finnish friend's throat, feeling for a pulse. He feels a pulse, but it is weak...and getting weaker.

"Emil, without Berwald and...Matthias, we are never going to win this," Lukas says slowly, moving closer to his brother. Sweat now shimmered across his brow as he fought to keep up the protective shield.

"Yes...but we can try. Protect Tino," Emil says, carefully taking Tino's dagger and standing up to face his three foe's. Behind him, Lukas moves over and embraces Tino, protecting their ever weakening friend. Raising his hands and narrowing his eyes, Emil prepares himself for the hardest and perhaps most important fight in his life. He watches as Finland laughs, obviously not impressed by the entire proceedings. With an evil grin, he runs at Emil, swinging his sword in an arch that would take of the other's head. Instead of blocking it, Emil ducks and steps back, causing Finland to fall bodily into Iceland, while his sword wedged itself deep into the hard wood of the mast. Dancing to his right, Emil takes advantage of the chaos to sink his dagger into Norway's stomach, while using Tino's dagger to punch Finland in the back. Falling back, Emil watches as Norway backs away, pain finally evident on his face. Finland rights himself, lunging back at Emil, Iceland at his side. Taking a step back, Emil tries to duck, but ends up with a sword stuck deep in his right side. With a gasp Emil falls to his left, into Finland and another sword.

Gasping, Emil feels the sword's ripped from his sides and feels blood start to soak his cloths. Not ready to give up, he throws his arms out and up, into the chest's of his attackers. He jerks his daggers back towards himself, creating deep, curving wounds. Iceland falls backward into the mast in shock, while Finland staggers back slightly. With a smile on his face, Emil turns to face Finland, only to get a sword run right through his stomach. As Finland pulls out the sword, Emil cries out in pain. He falls backward, hands still clutching the two daggers, and lands near Lukas.

With quick, gentle hands, Lukas grabs his brother by the back of his shirt collar and drags him close, setting him between Tino and himself. Blood ran from Emil's stomach and side injuries like rivers turned a sticky red, staining the front and sides of his white shirt and brown suit. Wrapping an arm back around the injured Icelandic, Lukas puts more effort into his protective shield, knowing that, if the shield failed they would all be dead. _"If only Berwald and that annoying Matthias would arrive,"_ Lukas thinks in anger. He briefly opens his eyes and sees Finland, Iceland, and Norway advancing on them. Closing his eyes again, Lukas prepares to meet the cold sleep known as death...

"Don't think you're going to defeat us that easily!" a loud voice says, accompanied by the heavy thump of a pair of boots right in front of where Lukas, Tino, and Emil lay huddled. "The 'King of Scandinavia' does not let his enemies get away with so little punishment!"

Lukas snorts quietly as a second pair of boots hits the deck right behind him. For all that he disliked the man, Matthias could not have had better timing. Opening his eyes, Lukas sees the familiar figure of Berwald at the edge of his vision. The tall, silent nation was aiding Matthias drive back Finland, Norway, and Iceland. Closing his eyes again, Lukas listens for the three splashes that would signal the retreat of their enemy. One...two...three. Lukas sighs; they were gone. Opening his eyes a crack just to make sure, he releases the protective field when he spots only Matthias and Berwald on the deck of the blood stained ship. Relaxing, Lukas struggles to keep conscious as Matthias and Berwald approach him. "We...we've got to get Tino and Emil over to land," he says weakly, moving his hands to feel for a pulse on both Tino's, and Emil's necks. "No...no..." he says, worry and fear in his voice. He holds up a hand to prevent Matthias and Berwald from lifting him just yet. "Wait..." he says, closing his eyes. His lips move, quiet words coming out . Purple light swirls around first Tino, then Emil. Moments later, both start to breath visibly. With his friends saved, Lukas slips into unconsciousness...

With a grunt of surprise, Matthias leans down and picks up Lukas. "What happened?" Berwald asks Emil when he sees the nation open his eyes. The other blinks slowly and shakes his head. "Not now," he mutters, turning to Tino as a puffin appears in the air. "Mr. Puffin, where have you been?" Emil asks his puffin, slowly getting to his feet. He watches as Berwald picks up Tino.

"Well, I have been fighting an enemy puffin since you haven't bothered to notice!" the puffin exclaims, landing on Emil's shoulder.

"Follow me Emil! We are going over to the shore! Grab onto me when we enter the water, I don't think that you can swim," Matthias says, slowly climbing into the water, Berwald close behind. Emil grumbles as he slowly enters the water but obeys, grabbing onto Matthias as the Dane swims back to shore.


	8. Chapter 8: Land Separated Or United?

"Poland, Poland wake up! Please wake up!" Lithuania says in worry, hands gently shaking the Pole. The blond haired figure stirs, going onto his hands and knees from where he lay sprawled on the ground.

"Liet? Is that you?" Poland asks, getting to his knees. He grabs onto Lithuania's right arm as he gets to his feet. "Like, where are we?"

"I don't know Poland..." Lithuania says, trailing off as he looks around the clearing. There was something familiar about the clearing...something that Lithuania could not put a finger on. His gaze sweeps across the clearing, finally resting on one place not far from them...

"Liet?" Poland says, putting a hand on Lithuania's shoulder and shaking him. The brown haired nation shakes his head and rubs at his eyes, his hands trembling. "Liet, what's wrong?"

"This place...this is where we got separated. Don't you remember?! Just look around, everything is the way is was then!..."

"Latvia!" a voice cries out in fear, interrupting Lithuania.

"Estonia?" Lithuania questions, taking a step in the direction of the cry.

"Lithuania! Poland! Run!" Latvia cries, running from the bushes, Estonia close behind. "I-It's Russia! He's gone bezerk!"

"What did you do this time Latvia?" Lithuania says, fear appearing in his eyes.

"Nothing! I did nothing!" Latvia wails, coming to a stop in front of Lithuania. He was trembling from head to toe and constantly looking behind himself into the trees. Estonia comes to a stop next to Poland.

"Is that Russia? He looks, like, so different," Poland says, pointing to the figure who had just appeared from the trees. Red eyes gleam out of a pale white face with a look that could kill. His outfit was still the Russian WWII uniform with the scarf added on. The one difference is that the uniform and the scarf are stained with blood. Latvia turns around and yelps, falling backward into Lithuania.

Lithuania stairs at Russia, his deep green eyes locked with Russia's bright red ones. "Feliks, Ravis, Eduard, get out your swords. This is not Russia," Lithuania says, drawing his own sword.

Feliks draws his sword, looking Russia over. "Toris, are we going to like totally fight him?"

"Yes. It's the only way to keep us from being separated again,"

"Become one with mother Russia," Russia says in a dangerously low voice, moving swiftly over to the Baltic's and Poland.

"H-he has no weapon!" Ravis says, his voice trembling.

"We should not let that throw us Ravis. He can still fight us. It's Russia. He's the biggest nation in the world," Eduard says.

"You're like, totally right. We can defeat him if we work together!" Feliks says, getting a grip on his sword before pointing it at Russia. He narrows his eyes at his opponent, the memories of the day he got separated from Toris flooding back to him. For all that he put on a cool exterior, inside he had been really distraught when his Liet had taken away by that...that bastard. "We will not be separated again. Not in my lifetime," Feliks says quietly so only Toris can hear him.

"Toris, Feliks, Ravis, look," Eduard says, pointing with the tip of his sword to the bushes behind Russia, "It's...it's us. Coming from the bushes,"

Feliks looks past Russia as sees another Poland emerge from the bushes along side of another Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. They have red eyes that are shining with a killing light. Feliks looks up at the touch of a hand on his shoulder, meeting Toris' deep green eyes. "I will not let us get separated again," he says quietly to his friend. He takes a deep breath before speaking to the entire group, "None of us will get separated. We will die defending each other. Where ever we are, I have a feeling it is not home,"

"Yes. So if we get separated, we will not see each other again," Eduard says, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.

"Yes, so like, let's fight," Feliks says, taking the first swing.

~Somewhere else in the forest~

Tino opens his eyes to the feeling of a warm hand pressed against his throat. He looks around, his vision blurry, unable to tell where he was. When he blacked out he had been on that ship...but now he was...was...

"Tino," Berwald's deep voice says, "It's ok. We are in the forest away from that boat. Emil and Lukas are alive as well..."

"We're all alive?" Tino mutters, interrupting Berwald. "I thought that I was going to die back there," he tries to sit up and winces as pain shoots through his injuries. He leans against Berwald and tries again, this time ignoring the pain and sitting up. He looks around, spotting both Emil and Lukas not that far away in the company of Matthias. He smiles and cautiously gets to his feet. "Are the other nations alright?"

Matthias looks up at Tino, "We don't know. We have not found-"

A loud cry interrupts Matthias. A cry that sounds like "Ravis! No!" and is full of pain. The Nordic 5 look at each other as they recognize the voice. It was Eduard, and his Baltic brother Ravis was in serious trouble. Without saying anything, Tino grips Berwald's arm, preparing himself to run. Emil holds onto Matthias and Lukas stands on his own, his strength recovered completely. Without any other words, the Nordic 5 head in the direction of the anguished cry.

~Back in the clearing~

"Ravis! No!" Eduard cries as Latvia runs his sword through the small nation's chest. Eduard clings onto Ravis with one arm as the small nation collapses, blood spilling from the wound and staining his red uniform a darker red while using his still free arm to fight off Latvia. He feels Toris' back pressed against his, and guessed that Feliks was against Ravis. All three of them were injured in multiple ways, but Ravis was the first one to get seriously injured. With one of them down and 5 of the opponent, Eduard saw no hope of freedom. They were just going to die fighting...

Feliks swings his sword into Poland's, narrowing his eyes and putting all his weight into his only hope of survival, besides his friends. He pushes all thought of fatigue out of his head. He was not going to win the battle if he was tired. He grits he teeth as Poland jerks his sword and runs it down his left arm, splitting open the flesh as if it were nothing more that air. "That is totally uncool," he mutters as he feels his grip on his sword weaken. It is then that the pain fills him and he drops to the ground. Above him, Poland laughs, running his sword down Feliks' other arm, causing the fallen nation to completely drop his sword.

"Feliks, no!" Toris says, pain in his voice. He takes a swing at Lithuania, beating back the other before stepping in front of his fallen friend. He doesn't says a word, instead, his eyes take on a hard edge and he leans down and picks up Feliks' sword. "You will not hurt him. He is my friend, he is more than my friend. He means the world to me. The only way to kill him is to kill me," Toris says, his voice taking on a deadly edge. He swings the two swords, fighting both Lithuania and Poland, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he too was felled. He feels a sword tip jam into his back as he hears Eduard cry out in pain. A feeling of dread fills Toris as he looks over at Russia.

"It was nice knowing you Toris, but now you must become one with the supreme ruler of all...death," Russia says, swinging his fist into Toris' upper chest as Lithuania runs his sword into his lower chest. Toris drops to his knees and feels Feliks' arms wrap around him. He smiles, weakly moving an arm around behind his friend, with that hand he grips Ravis' hand.

"We will be united together in death, Liet," Feliks says, using his old nickname for Toris.

"Yes, the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth will live again..." Toris responds, his blood mixing with Feliks' as they embrace each other for what they thought was the last time. Behind them both Eduard and Ravis had blacked out, Toris could feel the two Baltic's slumped against him and Feliks. As the world starts to fade, Toris feels a gentle kiss on his head. Smiling, Toris lifts his head and kisses Feliks lightly on the cheek before his world goes dark.


	9. Chapter 9 Viking Invasion Come Too Late?

Lukas comes to a halt at the edge of the clearing where Feliks and the Baltic's lay. "No...not again," he says in worry, looking through the trees into the clearing. He hurries out of the trees and over to the four fallen figures. He goes straight over to Eduard and Toris, getting to his knees and laying his hands on the two fallen nations. He closes his eyes and starts to whisper, whisper the special words he had used on Tino and Emil when they had fallen. When he finishes, he opens his eyes to see Tino kneeling next to Eduard. The fallen Baltic was once again breathing,his wounded chest slowly moving up and down. Looking over to where Ravis lay, the Nordic feels relief fill him. The smallest of the brothers was also breathing. "Good, they're alive," Lukas mutters, letting his gaze move over to Toris and Feliks.

"What do you mean, 'they're alive'?" Tino asks, confusion evident in his voice.

"Not now Tino," Lukas responds, his blood running cold when he looks upon Toris and Feliks. Confusion fills him, confusion mixed with fear. He quickly gets up and moves over to stand in front of the Baltic and the Pole. He gets to his knees and places his hands on the two friends, closing his eyes and muttering once again. Muttering words he had never thought he would use. Muttering words that reversed death.

Emil watches his brother, slowly letting go of Matthias and walking over to the concentrating nation. He stands quietly, observing. Whatever Lukas was doing, it was taking a lot out of him. Suddenly worried, Emil drops to his knees and places his hands on the quickly paling flesh of his brother. He doesn't say anything, doesn't dare to for fear that he disturb Lukas. Biting his lower lip, Emil watches quietly...

Lukas ends the spell and opens his eyes, pale and trembling. He feels Emil's comforting hands on his left arm, giving him strength. The brothers wait and watch in silence, anxiety crackling through the air light lightning. Time appears to come to a stop, to drag on, and on, and on...until the slightest movement of Feliks' chest shatters the frozen time. Relief washes over Lukas. It had worked. Feliks was alive. But what about Toris? Lukas looks over at the other nation, apprehension filling him, only to have his fears alleviated by a pair of dull green eyes staring back at him.

"Lukas? Emil?" Toris whispers, looking from one brother to the other. I...I'm alive? What about Feliks?"

Before Lukas can answer, a soft laugh issues from where Feliks was. "I'm alive Liet. You're so sweet,"

"Lukas, what did you just do?" Matthias asks, moving over to stand behind Lukas.

Lukas looks around, sighing in resignation. Everyone had gathered around and was waiting for him to answer. "I revived them. They were dead," he says shortly.

"So you mean that we were, like, dead just now?" Feliks exclaims in shock.

"I thought that death was permanent," Toris agrees.

"Not always. And not here," Lukas tells them.

"So death is not permanent here?" Tino says, looking up.

Lukas stays silent for a long moment, thinking about what to say. "Death" he says finally, "is not permanent here because we are not in our home universe. We are somewhere else where others rule. When I brought you, Tino, and Emil, back to life on the boat, your souls felt torn and lost..." Lukas shakes his head, at a loss of words.

"What do you mean by that?" Emil asks in confusion.

Lukas sighs. "We are not nations here. We are human beings, able to be killed," Silence follows Lukas' statement. The Nordic sighs and continues to talk. "We need to be careful when we fight. I can not always guarantee that I can save someone. I almost couldn't save Toris and Feliks,"

Toris sits up and places a hand Lukas' arm. "You saved me and Feliks Lukas, don't feel bad,"

"Yeah. I'm glad to be back anyway. I am, like, the phoenix after all," Feliks says.

"What do we have here? My Baltic's injured?" a somewhat deep voice says. Lukas looks up, meeting the purple eyes of Russia. A purple haze was surrounding him.

"Ivan, we did not injure them. They were injured when we came," Lukas tells the Russian cooly, refusing to be intimidated.

"M-Mister Russia? How n-nice to see you..." a voice stammers.

"It's nice to see you too, Ravis," Ivan responds, smiling, as the purple haze disappears. He walks over and goes to give the youngest Baltic a hug. Berwald casually steps between Ivan and Ravis without saying a word. As a purple haze starts to form around Ivan's head once again, two more figures appear out of the trees. Berwald looks past Ivan and recognizes Natalia and Katyusha.

"Ivan, leave Ravis alone. They look worse off than us," Katyusha says, coming over and putting a hand on her brother's arm. Natalia moves to Ivan's other side, placing a blood stained arm around Ivan's.

Tino looks the three newest arrivals over. Whatever had happened to them had been bad, but evidently not as bad as what he...no they...had collectively been through. "What happened to you?" he asks.

"What do you think happened? We were attacked at Chernobyl," Natalia says coldly.

Katyusha sighs, looking over at Ivan and Natalia. "We woke up near Chernobyl..." she begins...


	10. Chapter 10: Paper Stone

A small boy dressed in a sailor's outfit walks up the stone path to a Victorian style house and knocks on the door. He steps back and waits, shifting impatiently. With an exasperated sigh, he grasps the door handle and pushes, causing the door to swing open. Without a single hesitation, he walks right in. He comes to a halt in the foyer, a strange feeling washing over him.

"England?" he calls out apprehensively. His boyish British accent echoes down the empty hallways. He sighs quietly and walks down to the kitchen, expecting to find England there. "Engl-oh, a note," he says, walking over the the small, round table where a small square of paper lay. "It's for me!" he exclaims, picking up the note and reading it...

_ Sealand,_  
_ I am at a World Conference. Stay out of my stuff. I will be back this evening._  
_ England_

"But the World Conference ended three days ago!" Sealand exclaims, re-reading the note.

"What about the Word Conference, laddy?" a Scottish accented voice says. Sealand looks up and meets the green eyes of England's older brother Scotland.

"England left this note," Sealand starts, handing Scotland the note. "He obviously wrote it on the day of the World Conference 3 days ago. That means that he never returned!"

"Are you sure that he's not staying over at someone's house?" Scotland remarks, giving Sealand back the note.

"Of course I'm sure, you bastard! I'll...I'll find him!" Sealand exclaims, shoving the note in his pocket and running out the door. Scotland watches Sealand go before shaking his head and making a noise of disgust. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a murky green cell, flipping it open with a jerk of his wrist. With his other hand he punches in a series of numbers before placing the cell to his ear.

"Oi, Wales, is Ireland there with you?... Good. Bring him and meet me inside Big Ben... Why? Because I say so!" he snaps, flipping the phone closed and shoving it back in his pocket. Pivoting on his heel, he turns and strides out of the kitchen door.

~Back on Sealand's 'country'~

Sealand sighs in frustration, ending his call to Latvia. His Baltic friend wasn't answering his phone. Just like Sweden, Finland, and Stormfire. "Something's wrong, I just know it!" he exclaims, punching in the number of his friend Wy. "Wy, it's Sealand. Have you seen England lately?...England's missing and the others won't answer their phones...That's great! Meet me at the Conference building...ok!" Sealand exclaims happily, hanging up the phone only to have it start ringing again. He picks up the phone and presses it to his ear. "Hello?...No, England's missing too...Meet me at the Conference building!" he says, hanging up.

~In the Conference building~

Sealand enters the room with Seborga and sees Wy and Seychelles bent over something on the table. "Hey, what are you looking at?"

"A note from Stormfire," Wy says, handing Sealand the note. Sealand scans the note, reading softly.

_ The other nations and I have gone to look for Greece. His cat has told us he is missing. Be back as soon as we can. Just wait for us._  
_ Stormfire_

"No, not another note," Sealand says, worry in his voice.

"'Not another note'? What do you mean?" Seborga asks, looking over at Sealand.

"England left a note too. It said that he'd be back after the World Conference. That was three days ago!" Sealand remarks, pulling the crumpled note out of his pocket, smoothing it out, and handing it to Seborga. The room was silent as the three other micronations read the note.

"We should go look for them!" Seychelles says, handing the note back to Sealand. "They obviously went to Greece, so we should go there too!" Seeing no disagreement, Seychelles leads the other micronations out of the Conference building.


	11. Chapter 11: Neutral Succession

On a hillside, two figures press themselves against the back of a large rock. Each have a gun in hand, the green clad figure has a rifle and the pink clad figure has a small, hand held gun. The green clad figure raises a blood stained hand and pushes a strand of short, blond hair out of his mouth. He turns his eyes on his younger sister, Lili, and feels sadness fill him. She was trembling in suppressed fear and shock as she presses herself into the ever shortening shadows. He glances quickly at her legs as she shifts her position, getting a good view of the bullet wound to the back of her right calf and the freshly dried blood.

"Big broder, I'm scared," Lili says in the barest whisper.

"I know," Vash responds, swallowing and looking down at his left hand and the bullet wound there. "Just stay with me. I will protect you," he says as a bullet whizzes past above them, chipping off some of the rock above Vash's head. _"They are getting closer,"_ he thinks, turning around and cautiously looking down the hillside. Below them, their counterparts were no more than several feet away. Vash quickly turns back around as Lili starts to tug on his uninjured hand before carefully pointing to a near by tree. Vash turns, seeing a figure cautiously looking out from behind the tree...at them. Vash narrows his eyes, swiveling the muzzle of his gun around. Vash watches as the figure pulls back before re-emerging, this time with a frying pan. Vash lowers his gun at once, recognizing the figure at last as Elizabeta. Vash glances back over his shoulder, then back at Elizabeta, who nods and vanishes.

Elizabeta moves quickly and silently down the hillside towards the counterparts of Vash and Lili, Roderich at her side. They had managed to fight off their opponents moments before they heard the first shots. Slowing down, Elizabeta grabs Roderich and pulls him against her and into the shade of a tree close to their targets. She cautiously points out a path with her frying pan, before looking at her Austrian companion, who nods and starts to move.

Roderich comes to a halt behind the bush that Elizabeta had pointed out to him and turns around to watch the green clad Hungarian for his signal. Brushing nervously at his blood stained and torn blue outfit, he thinks about what was going to happen. Odds are Vash and Lili are going to attack their counterparts with their guns, so he and Elizabeta would have to attack from behind through all the bullets. _"How nice,"_ he thinks as bullets start to fly through the air from behind the rock where Vash and Lili were hiding. With a sigh, Roderich sees Elizabeta give the signal. _"Well, here goes nothing,"_ he thinks, pulling out his sword and running at Switzerland.

Vash watches as Elizabeta and Roderich run out of their hiding places and attack Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Ducking fast, Vash, pulls the trigger on his rifle again, hitting Switzerland in the chest. With four against two, Vash knows that this battle will not last long. He is soon proven right when the two counterparts start to back towards the trees...and escape. Vash watches as Liechtenstein stops one last time, aims her gun, and shoots...

Without thinking, Elizabeta dives, pushing Roderich out of the way and taking the bullet to her right side in his stead. As they collapse on the ground, she rolls off of her friend and starts to get up, a smile crossing her lips when she feels Roderich's hands under her arms, aiding her. "Thank you," she says.

"No, thank you Elizabeta," Roderich counters, keeping his arms around Elizabeta's upper chest. He watches as Vash and Lili join them.

"Thank you for helping us," Vash says slowly, not making eye contact with the Austrian. He stops when Lili stumbles, her right leg giving out from under her. With a swift movement, Vash helps his sister back to her feet.

Elizabeta looks over Vash and Lili in growing shock. Both nations were badly injured from a long, intense gun fight that they had obviously had with their counterparts. Vash's left hand is caked in dried blood from a bullet that is still logged in the bones of his hand. His left hip is still bleeding from a long, and evidently deep wound that Elizabeta guessed had been caused by a bayonet. A similar scar runs down his right leg, causing him to limp noticeably. Lili is in no better condition. On the back of her right calf is a bullet wound, dried blood surrounding it. Elizabeta guesses that the bullet is still inside the wound. She has a bullet hole in her upper right chest by her shoulder and a long scar down by her left hip going down onto her left thigh. Elizabeta feels that her one bullet wound and several, shallow, sword injures are trivial by comparison. "Ve need to get you help," she says, removing Roderich's hand from around her chest and moving over to Lili. She leans down and picks up the injured girl, leaving Roderich to help Vash. The Swiss grumbles, but doesn't deny the help from the Austrian.

As they move down the hillside, Roderich looks over at Vash and says, "Reminds you of old times, doesn't it?"

After a moment of silence, Vash replies, "Yes, it does,"


	12. Chapter 12: Nordic Daughter

Greenland starts when her left breast pocket vibrates and a gentle tune fills the quiet air. She regains her composure, a look of hope flashing through her brown eyes as she reaches into her pocket and extracts a green cell. With her left hand still on the base of Naaja's white neck, the female nation flips open her cell and answers the call. "Hello?"

"Greenland?" an Irish voice says cautiously.

"Ja? Ireland?"

"You're still here. I thought..." as his voice get more distant, Greenland pulls Naaja to a halt and continues to listen. "You said that they were all gone! You didn't bother to call Greenland, did you?"

"My cell phone's always on," Greenland says quietly.

"Greenland! Sorry, Scotland told us that..."

"Never mind what I said!" Scotland interjects, his loud voice causing Greenland to wince slightly.

"Scotland, please," Greenland interjects, "not now. So, what did you want me for? And what is this about missing nations?" Greenland hears someone sigh in the background.

"The Nordics are missing," Ireland responds, an unhappy note in his voice.

"Missing? So that would explain why they're not answering my calls," Greenland observes calmly. "But why are they missing? I mean..."

"Oi, what do you mean by that? How can we know why they're missing!?" Scotland exclaims.

"Scotland, you interrupted her," Wales says, his voice getting louder when he takes the phone. "Now, I'm setting this to speaker so we can all talk," There is some noise as Wales turns on the speaker. "Now, Greenland, the Nordics have been missing for three days now. The G8, along with all of the nations who attended the World Conference three days ago are also missing,"

"All those nations!" Greenland exclaims in shock, doing quick math in her head. "Why are we all discovering this out now?"

Ireland snorts. "You tell me. We don't talk to England often. We found out because Scotland called Wales and told us that he had found Sealand..."

"Oi! Let me tell her!" Scotland interrupts. Greenland rolls her eyes, she didn't care who told her what was going on as long as someone told her. "Sealand was in England's house looking at a note he wrote three days ago,"

"So then you called your brothers, met up together, and started calling other nations?" Greenland asks. "Oh, and just where are you guys anyway? I'm just outside the Nordic house,"

"We're up inside of Big Ben," Ireland tells her, "It was where Scotland told us to meet,"

There is the sound of fighting that causes Greenland to move her cell a few inches away from her ear. She just wanted them to stop fighting and fill her in on who else knew of this new problem. She sighs and leans forward, burying her face in Naaja's neck. Her albino reindeer twists her neck around to her left to look at Greenland.

"I know," Greenland mutters, "All they ever do is fight,"

"Oi, Greenland, you there?"

Greenland sits up at the sound of Scotland's voice and places her cell back against her ear. "Ja?..."

"Oi, Greenland?" Scotland repeats when the female nation trails off.

"Greenland, are you still there," Wales also asks.

"J-ja. Aani, calm down! Aani, for God's sake, just close your beak and just land on my arm!" Greenland snaps at her pet falcon. Her brown eyes glare at her pet peregrine falcon until the bird lands on her arm, still twittering.

"Greenland?" Ireland asks again. "What's wrong?"

"Something's gotten into Aani. And she has yet to calm down enough to tell me," Greenland explains, soothingly running a hand down Aani's back. She makes soothing noises, scratching her bird under the chin. "Aani?"

"Th-the house is abandoned...and there is someone there...Someone who looks like you," Aani pauses, clacking her beak together in agitation several times before continuing. "She had red eyes, and her clothing was...very revealing. She looked very strong..." Aani trails off, taking to the sky again.

"I'm going in," Greenland says over the phone. "You three did hear that, ja?"

"Yes, we heard it," Wales says. "Are you sure about that?"

"Ja. My brothers are in trouble. They need my help," Greenland says in a 'no duh' tone. "There it is, the Nordic 5's house,"

"Be careful lassy, alright?" Scotland asks, his tone unusually gentle.

"Scotland, I will. I have Aani, Naaja, Kûna, and Orpik with me. I may not have an army, and I may not be as strong as other nations, like America, but with my pets I am strong," Greenland replies sweetly. "Now, I am putting my cell on speaker so you can hear anything that is said," she adds, fiddling with her phone settings until she finds speaker and pressing that button before placing her cell back in her left breast pocket. "I'm going in," she says, dismounting from Naaja and entering the darkened house, her pets close behind her.


	13. Chapter 13: Asia United

Three figures walk through a densely wooded forest towards the sound of the sea. All three are visibly injured, but one is more seriously injured than the others. The long brown hair going down the left side of her head is streaked with blood from a shallow head wound. Her skin, usually a brownish-white, is pale; trembling hands cling to her two companions supporting her from either side.

"I'm sorry if I'm a burden," she says, grimacing as a branch snaps across the long and deep wound on the outside of her left calf.

"You are not a burden Mei. You fought bravely and were injured," the other female, Lien, remarks; blood matter and tangled long, black hair swings behind her.

The third figure, a male named Im Young, grins and gently squeezes Mei's arm. "Great fighting was invented by me! No great fighter related to me can be a burden!"

Mei smiles, laughing slightly. "Thank you," she says in a quiet, grateful tone.

"Mei? Is that you?"

Mei looks up at the sound of a familiarly accented voice. She comes to a stop, shifting onto her good leg. "Kiku? Is that you?" she queries cautiously.

"Hai, it is me,"

"And don't forget about me aru!"

Im Young gives a big grin as the two Asians nations emerge from the bushes. "Brothers!" He stops when he sees how badly injured Yao is. "What happened to you!?" he exclaims, a worried look crossing his face. With a sigh, Mei releases his left arm and nods to him; she knows Im Young's dedication to their two eldest brothers.

With a faint nod, the Korean dashes over to Yao to aid the injured Chinese nation by putting an arm and shoulder around and underneath the other's back and arm respectively. Yao sighs and shakes his head, but doesn't deny his younger brother's help. "Your back brother! The old scar is..."

"Yes, but Kiku didn't cause it aru. Someone who looks like kiku did," Yao interjects quickly, "Kiku was the one who saved me,"

"We were attacked too," Mei says, "by other versions of ourselves. My other version injured me like this," she adds, gesturing to her injuries.

"But we were able to defeat them!" Im Young remarks, glancing over at Lien, who glares at the Korean.

"We did not defeat them. They almost defeated us had it not been for my quick actions," Lies retorts with a glare. "Don't say that you didn't think we were going to be defeated at some point,"

"I...no...but..." Im Young stammers, wilting slightly under the Vietnamese nations cold glare.

"Prease do not argue now," Kiku says, glancing at his two siblings. "We need to find a place to hear up,"

Lien sighs, moving with Mei closer to their brothers. "Alright," she remarks with one last glare at Im Young.

"Now we are all together, let us go find some place to heal aru," Yao says, a faint whisper of happiness evident in voice. A wisp of a smile passes over his lips as the little group moves off in search of a place to rest and heal up.


	14. Chapter 14: War Poem

"Are you certain this is the right way, Arthur?" you ask as you pass yet another half crumbling, blood stained building.

"Yeah dude! We've been walking for ever and we haven't seen any form of transportation!" Alfred pipes up, a slight whine in his voice.

"We have only been walking for an hour, Alfred," Arthur snaps at the American before turning to you. "Yes, I am certain this is the right way. The feeling I have that has been guiding me is almost overpowering, so we should be encountering some form of transportation soon. However, I also have a feeling that we will be encountering some trouble," he adds as an evil laugh floats down to them.

"Shit, it's her. We've got to run. Now!" Elizabeth swears, grabbing your left arm and Mathew's right arm and breaking into a run.

"You're not going to get away~" a second voice says that is all too familiar to you. Behind you, you hear your three other companions pick up their pace to a run.

_"Why is she here!? She...no they...must be the trouble Arthur sensed,"_ you think in a slightly panicked mental tone as you recognize the voice of your counterpart.

"I recognize where we are now! Follow me to-" Elizabeth starts, cutting off when a bullet whizzes past her left ear to hit with a clank on the concrete.

"Oh no you're not!" Stormfire exclaims. You grimace and glance quickly back over your shoulder, catching a glimpse of your counterpart reloading her black gun.

"Oh fucking shit. This isn't good. This isn't good at all!" you mutter, your voice low yet still slightly shrill in fear.

"W-what do they want with us?" Mathew asks Elizabeth quietly. You glance over at the Canadian and feel your heart melt.

"It's ok Mattie. We'll get away from them. Just stay with me," Elizabeth says, glancing from the Canadian to you.

"Elizabeth, would you mind telling us-ack!" Arthur's question is cut off by an explosion and a cackle of laughter.

"Angleterre!" a French accent remarks in worry.

"Thanks," you hear Arthur mutter as you turn your attention back on running and keeping up with Elizabeth.

Running. Panting. Explosions and showers of blood. Metal tearing through flesh and clothing. Metal both thick and thin that are equally dangerous. 6 figures running...running...running. Running away from two lone figures that hop from building to building. Two figures who resemble the two running girls.

"Here! We're...oh no. Oh fuck..." Elizabeth says, turning down a shadow filled ally as two tall figures emerge from the shadows of the buildings.

"Amérique et Canada," Francis says as the female counterparts of Isabella and Elizabeth land, cat style, on the concrete.

Narrowing your eyes, you pull out your shovel, its metal glinting in the musty sunlight filtering down through the cloudy air. You feel your adrenaline start to rise and the blood in your veins thicken. Glancing quickly to your left, you see Elizabeth unsheathe her Samurai sword, and beyond her, you see Mathew pull out his bow.

"Mattie, Isabella, Elizabeth, what're you doing?" Alfred remarks loudly as he watches his friend, sister, and brother remove their weapons.

"We're distracting them," Elizabeth replies, glancing over at Arthur and meeting the Englishman's green eyes. After a moment Arthur nods, grabbing both Alfred and Francis by their arms.

"She wants us to go and look for the two air planes that are somewhere in the area," Arthur hisses to the American and Frenchman, "while she, Mattie, and Isabella distract those...things," He jerks his head slightly at the four counterparts.

"Ok...whoa, dude, how did you pick that up from her?" Alfred asks, suddenly realizing that Arthur and Elizabeth had exchanged no words.

"Um...well..." Arthur replies, obviously not too certain himself.

From in front of the group, America laughs. "So you're going to fight to let your...friends...escape? Hah! You don't have a chance against four of us!"

Your counterpart smirks at you. "Four _strong_ nations against three weak ones," she snorts and laughs, "Not even a fair match,"

"Well, does one more even things out?" questions a sassy female voice. Stormfire looks over at a small side ally as the pure white head of a reindeer emerges from the shadows, its red eyes gleaming. Stormfire growls in anger as the rest of the beast comes into view...as well as the person...

"Sika!" you cry out in relief as you see your Greenlandic friend emerge, spurring Naaja into a trot. The reindeer tosses her head and, upon seeing you, moves over to you, her hooves clicking on the concrete. She rears onto her hind feet and spins around to face your enemies as three other animals also emerge from the ally. You turn your attention back on Stormfire. "And if you mean to say that I am not strong you are so wrong,"

"Oh, I don't think so. You couldn't even defeat my brothers when you first encountered them so why should you be able to defeat them now?" Stormfire continues in a mocking tone.

"Why!? Because I'm more prepared this time! I'm more ready to fight you guys now than before!"

"I hardly believe that. You wouldn't even be around now if it wasn't for you Chinese boyfriend," she quips in a baiting tone. "A boyfriend who soon is going to be no more,"

"What?! You wouldn't..."

"Oh yes. Both he and his brothers and sisters will soon be dead. And you will be alone. And you...will..._die_..." she hisses, pulling out a small, thin object. "Shall we take a look at them?" she asks sweetly, flipping a switch and projecting a 3D image of Kiku and Yao and their siblings onto the concrete. You gasp and feel a hand grip your right shoulder gently.

"N-no...Kiku...Yao..." you hear Mathew whisper as tears come to your eyes and slip down your cheeks.

"Y-Yao...no...no..." you says hoarsely at the sight of Yao, strung limply between Kiku and Im Young. Blood stains the Chinese man's uniform in quantities too great to be healthy. You swallow as you realize something...if the Asian counterparts returned at that moment, Yao and his siblings would...would...die. _"And I will be alone..."_

"So you see, it's of no use fighting us, for even you boyfriend and his siblings couldn't win," Stormfire hisses evilly.

"No," you respond, your voice deep in anger, "You're wrong. No one...hurts...Yao," you snarl before launching at Stormfire, your shovel swinging in a wide arch, the metal connecting with flesh in a loud, crunching sound and a shower of blood.

Nothing can get through to you. Nothing can get through your anger, your pain; the thought of loosing Yao, the one who means the most to you. You loose touch with reality, your vision fading into a haze of red and your mind reverting to the animalistic state of the humans you watch over. The cries of your friends fall silently on your ears as you fight, a blur of tan and metal. Nothing can stop you. Nothing except the defeat of this...this thing who dared to suggest that Yao would die. Nothing but that.

~Time skip through the fighting~

"...Bella...Bella...Isabella please!..."

"Huh?...Mattie?..." you say, the soft voice of your Canadian brother breaking the bloody haze that has a grip on your brain. You blink as your vision returns and you look up and into the rich blue eyes of your brother. You blink again, your surroundings solidifying at last. "W-wait...Mattie, wh-where are we? And why am I on your lap? Not that I mind..." you say slowly, sitting up and embracing your brother. "Is..is this...blood? Mattie?"

"We're in a plane, Isabella, and the blood is from the battle with our counterparts. You do remember that, do you?'

You pause, pulling away from Mattie to look him in the eyes. You start to shake your head when the memories return. All of them. You freeze and close your eyes, a shudder passing through your frame. "Yes...yes I remember..." you whisper, looking away from him, horrified by what you did back on the ground. Arms wrap around your back and you feel Mathew pull you into a hug.

"Don't be upset Isabella, please," he whispers into your ears as he feels hot tears his the exposed flesh on his left shoulder.

"Mathieu? Isabella? are you two alright?" Francis asks from the front seat.

"Oui, we're alright," you reply, your shaky voice telling a different story.

"Ah, ma cherie, don't be upset by what you did back zere. We 'ave all seen much worse in our lives. Oui Mathieu?"

"Oui, Francis," Mathew replies

"Oui, c'est vrai..." you reply, in French. It is the second language of your country after all. A static crackling causes you to jump and cling to Mathew. The Canadian gently pats your back, a half smile on his lips.

Francis reaches forward and picks up the small corded radio, "Oui, c'est fleur un,"

"Ni hao Francis, Li Xiao and Arthur say you want to talk to me aru?" a familiar Chinese accent says. You gasp and sit upright.

_"Yao? Can it be?"_ you think in hope.

"Oui...'as Arthur filled you in on what 'appened?"

"Yes, I just called him aru. He said Isabella 'lost it', as he said. What does that mean?"

"Isabella, would you like to answer zat?" Francis says, a small smile curving the corners of his lips.

"M-me? Why, yes...yes of course!" you exclaim, turning around and leaning up to the back of the pilot's seat.

"Isabella? Are you there? Is that you aru?" Yao asks, his voice getting excited.

"Yes, I'm here. Oh, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice Yao. Especially after what they showed us of how badly you are injured," You close your eyes, tears of relief leaking through the lids.

"Arthur told me about that aru. What happened to you aru? No one is giving me a straight answer,"

"Oh...well..." you swallow, feeling a talon tap your shoulder. You turn around and smile up at Aani, petting her as you continue. "They...no she, my...my counterpart, said that I was too weak and that I could not win in a battle against her. She then said that I would...die if she got you and your siblings' counterparts to kill you guys...that...that and the image of you strung between Kiku and Im Young is what caused me to...well, snap," you shrug your shoulders as Kûna crawls onto your lap. "My memories of battling are clouded by a haze, but I remember most, if not clearly, of what happened. I was...was..." you trail off, burying your face in Kûna's fur.

"Bella?" Mathew says, using your nickname again. "Francis, I don't think we should push her. She looks emotionally scarred by what she did," Mathew hugs you again, singing softly in French.

"Yao, you are still zere, oui?" Francis says softly.

"Of course I am aru,"

"Good. As soon Mathieu has Isabella asleep, I shall tell you what happened..."

"No, don't aru. She will tell me when she's ready,"

"Merci Yao~. And oui, I heard that Francis. My hearing's not that bad," you mutter with a small kick to the back of his seat. You sigh, leaning into Mathew, still hugging Kûna. "Why...why did I have to loose it?"

"It is ok aru. We all have traumatic memories. Try to get you mind off of that by doing something else aru,"

"Well, ok...hmm..." you think for a long moment. "Would anyone mind me reciting a poem I have written? You know, the one I was telling you about, Yao. Before...the meeting..." When no one objects, you sigh and begin. "This poem is called Far Off in the Past ..." you say, closing your eyes. _"I hope they like it,"_ you think remembering the poem you had finished just before you and Yao had left for the World Meeting. Taking a deep breath, you begin.

Far Off in the Past

Far off in the future  
a bell tolls.  
A bell for the dead,  
the deceased,  
the lonely.  
A bell in remembrance for that day,  
for all those days,  
that people died.  
That nations fought against each other  
for freedom,  
for liberty,  
for anger and blood lust,  
for no good reason other than they could.  
A sweet song of sorrow  
in remembrance of those days  
that millions were killed.  
Those days when trusts were betrayed,  
loyalties broken,  
brothers killed,  
families lost.

Far off in the past  
a war cry sounds.  
A cry as hollow as the bones.  
A cry by rebel soldiers  
against the union.

Far of in the past  
ships burn.  
Off of the coast  
of an island nation.  
The ships of a once great nation  
lay sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Far of in the past  
brothers were united.  
Separated for so long,  
conquered by different nations.  
Now with different personalities,  
but still one country.

Far off in the past  
two nations united,  
forming a commonwealth in Europa.  
Becoming the best of friends,  
even in the toughest of times.

Far off in the past  
a wall was built.  
A wall that separated two brothers.  
East and West.  
Until it fell.

Far off in the past  
a brother was betrayed.  
Attacked by the younger.  
Forming a rift that has never fully healed.

Far off in the past  
a union was formed.  
A union between five nations.  
A unique union that lasted,  
until it broke up  
due to dissent.

Far off in the past  
revolutions occurred.  
Revolutions for freedom,  
for domination,  
for control.  
To control the futures of nations.

Far off in the past  
a winter turned to blood.  
Sweet turned bitter,  
and hard turned bloody.  
Scary was scared by the sweet  
during the second war of all.

Far of in the past  
a union was formed.  
A union between two  
so different,  
yet alike.  
By two who owned much,  
who liked each other then,  
but do not now.

Far off in the past  
two nations fought.  
Two who still fight,  
for fun now,  
but still out of habit.  
A habit that will never break  
unless they try.

Far off in the past  
a nation dissolved.  
Fell to pieces  
as its power fell.

Far of in the past  
things link to the future.  
Events return to haunt,  
to repeat,  
to cycle ever onward.

Blood and death repeat.  
Screams and cries sound.  
Tears and fluids are shed.

Families die.  
Brothers.  
Sisters.  
Mothers.  
Fathers.

Death.  
Die.  
Protect.

Why fight?  
Why argue?  
Why...  
why...  
why?

You end, closing your eyes in the silence that rings around the metal interior of the plane. That poem had come out of your heart, and still does. But something was different about it now. Something that spoke out to the bloody, war torn pasts of the nations...something that pleaded and begged. Something that wanted unity and freedom.

"That was beautiful aru," Yao says, being the first to break the silence. Behind him you think you hear someone crying.

"Who's crying?" you ask, worried all of a sudden.

"Im Young," Yao replies.

"I'm...I'm sorry..."

"No, don't be aru. The message is wonderful Isabella,"

"Oui, it is. We need to work together to find ze others so we can escape zis place...together," Francis remarks.

"Yeah dudette. That was wonderful. And yeah, we overheard. Hope you don't mind," Alfred's voice says over a second radio.

"No, I don't mind. In fact I'm glad that you heard it. I'm really glad," you say with a smile, wiping away the tears from your cheeks as a small popping sound attracts your attention. "Um...Francis, is the engine supposed to pop like that?"

"Pardon? Oh zut!" Francis cries as the engine explodes and smoke starts to stream out of the engine.

"Francis! Isabella! What's going on aru!" Yao exclaims in worry.

"We just lost our engine, Yao," Francis explains, "And we are going down!"


	15. Chapter 15: Crash And Burn

"You what?! You bloody frog, what have you done?" Arthur exclaims, his voice crackling loudly over the second radio, "I thought you knew how to fly these things!"

"I do! I am doing everything I used to do back in WWII!" Francis cries, struggling to right the plummeting craft. He pulls up hard on the steering wheel, leaning back into the seat and gritting his teeth. When the plane continues its downward plummet, Francis starts to swear in French. Your eyes go wide as the usually calm Frenchman starts to swear.

"Francis, don't swear aru! Stay calm and think of a way to land the plane!" Yao scolds Francis. In the background you can hear other voices.

"Yes, please stay calm," Mathew says, leaning back in his seat. You look at him before bracing yourself against the back of the pilot's seat.

"Yo, Francis dude. There's a clearing down below us. Try to direct your plane there," Alfred remarks. You lift your head slightly and look out the window.

"Ah, he's right. If we can land zere..." Francis says quietly, trailing off as he banks the plane, turning the nose of the plummeting craft towards the strip of grass.

"I wonder where we are?" you mutter, returning to your position of being braced against the back of the pilot's seat.

"Hey! Is that smoking trail up there Francis's plane?" you hear an energetic voice that could only belong to Im Young ask. There are several long moments of silence over both of the radios, broken only by the sound of air rushing past the cabin.

"You are right, Im Young! It is them!" Yao cries, his voice now muffled over the first radio. You jump slightly, closing your eyes tightly.

"Good," Francis says softly, "Because zat means you can pull us out of ze rubble of zis plane when it crashes," You feel a sinking feeling as Francis speaks, a feeling that causes all your hope of surviving the crash to drain out of you. When a pair of arms pulls you back you open your eyes, your gaze meeting the rich blue gaze of Mathew. You close your eyes again snuggling into your Canadian brother...and waiting for the bone jarring crash of metal with soil.

~On the ground~

Yao watches the plane plummeting, a lump in his throat. Unconsciously, he tightens his grip Kiku's shoulder.

"It wirr be ok Yao," the Japanese man says, turning his brown eyes onto his older brother as the plane vanishes below the tree line. Kiku grits his teeth as a loud explosion rips through the warehouse where where they have been staying. "That did not sound good. Sharr we go and-"

"Yes!" Yao interrupts, slowly getting to his feet and grabbing Kiku by the arm. "I want to make sure they are alright aru!" Without a backward glance, Yao, still holding onto Kiku, heads out of the warehouse and towards the downed plane.

~Second Westland Lysander~

A pile of semi-plane shaped rubble lies, half buried in the grassy dirt of a clearing. Curls of grey smoke rise from what used to be the engine, thickening and weakening as metal shifts and falls, groaning in the bright sunlight. Up above, a second plane appears, landing a few feet away from its ruined twin.

As Arthur lands the second plane at the other end of the clearing Yao and Kiku emerge from the trees. _"So they really were nearby,"_ Arthur thinks as he pops the hatch on the plane and climbs out. "Kiku, Yao, it's nice to see you both again," he says aloud, "I am glad you were both nearby when this happened," he adds, jerking his head at the downed plane as he helps Elizabeth to the ground. Once Elizabeth is down, Alfred climbs out before helping Sika out. With a sigh, Arthur turns his attention back to the plane and the two Asians who were now besides the wreckage. Shaking his head, Arthur hurries his pace over to the wrecked plane and what used to be the pilot's seat. "Come on Francis, you pervert, I know you survived this," he mutters as he starts to dig, first calmly, but with increasing agitation.

~Francis~

_"Oh...zut...I did not land zat plane...with ze grace and beauty...I should 'ave. Ugh...ma tête...I wonder if zis is what death is like? Slow pain to ze body...ze destruction of my beautiful features...but 'ow can I die? I am a nation...nation's don't die because of a crashed plane...but...zut! Elizabeth said that we were not nations 'ere. Oh...i-is zat light?" _ Francis' pained thoughts are interrupted by a blinding flash of light that causes the Frenchman to squint and wish he could raise an arm to block the light.

"Francis? Francis!"

_"A-Arthur? Can it be?"_ Francis wonders, blinking his sweet blue eyes up at his long time enemy and friend. "A-Arthur? Is it you?" he says aloud, his voice cracking.

"Francis, you bloody frog," the Englishman says in relief, moving his hands quickly to uncover the rest of Francis. "You could've done that landing better, you know,"

"Oui, I know. Just be 'appy I am still alive," Francis retorts as he feels his upper body become freed. "Ah, merci Angleterre,"

"Oh...well..." Arthur stammers as Francis removes himself from the rubble.

"Ah, zere we go...oh!" Francis feels relief fill him as the rubble falls away only to have his feet slip out from under himself.

"Careful there!" Arthur remarks, catching the Frenchman. "Don't injure yourself more than you already have. We need to get you to somewhere Yao can fix you up,"

"Why can't you just 'eal me? You are a wizard, after all,"

"Well...um...I don't see why not...it's just that...well..."

"Ah, oui, I see..." Francis says quietly, turning around and heading over to Alfred, who was embracing Mattie. "Mathieu, you are alright!"

"O-of course I am. And so is Bella," Mathew replies, point to where you were, currently embracing Yao. Francis smiles as he watches you and Yao.

"Ze lovers are finally reunited," he says in a quiet tone, a smile crossing his lips.

"F-Francis," Arthur stammers, coming up to his long time friend and placing a hand on his shoulder. "L-look, I'll heal you. I'll heal all of you. Yao looks a little...well unfit...so I consider it my duty as a gentleman to heal everyone,"

Francis snorts and rolls his eyes. "So ze gentleman..." he starts, trailing off at a death glare from you. "But I 'ave no objections,"

"Good," you say with a sharp nod, pulling away from Yao except for an arm kept around his upper chest.

"We can go back to the warehouse aru," Yao says, glancing at Kiku, who nods.

"Hai, there we can hear everyone and have a chance to regroup," Japan says quietly, leading the group back to the warehouse.

~In the warehouse, after everyone but Francis and Arthur have been healed~

Arthur sighs, looking over at Francis and shaking his head. The last person he wants to heal is that frog, but in order to be the gentleman he calls himself, he must. Holding back a noise of disgust, the Englishman approaches his French companion. "I'm only doing this because I am a gentleman," he mutters, green eyes narrowed.

"Onhonhon~ Are you certain-" Francis starts, only to be interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from outside the closed doors of the warehouse. "Ques'que c'est?" There is silence in the warehouse after Francis' question before it is broken by Elizabeth.

"It's them. They've managed to find us," she says, shaking her head, "How could this have happened? I thought that I had masked our presence?..." Elizabeth's muttered words are interrupted by a loud crash as the warehouse door splinters in two.

"Shit," you mutter, grabbing onto Yao and backing away from the door, "Oh fuck, this isn't good," You watch as the Asian counterparts enter the dusty sunlight of your haven. Swallowing nervously, you glance over at Yao, but before you can ask him anything, Elizabeth's voice rings out.

"Scatter!"


	16. Chapter 16: Love and Blood

**Chapter 16: Love and Blood**

_"Aiyaaa! This can't be happening aru!"_

_"Yao, come on! This way!"_

_"But-"_

_"No, we must! Elizabeth said to split up! We'll-We'll find them later!"_

_"Kiku, I'll find you later aru!"_

_"Brother, no! Wait-"_

_"Kiku. We must sprit up!"_

_"But...you're right. We must. We wirr meet up rater,"_

_"O-oh, m-maple. I-I'm sur-"_

_"Mattie!"_

_"A-Alfre-ugh! G-get back! B-back!"_

_"MATTIE!"_

_"Arthur, come, we must..."_

_"No, you fool. Just go!"_

_"Non. I will not leave without vous"_

_"You bloody fool..."_

_"We may be enemies back 'ome, but 'ere we are allies,"_

_"Sika, no! Don't do that!"_

_"I'm going to. They're my brothers...adopted brothers. Still, they are family,"_

_"Sika!"_

_"No...our brothers...friends..."_

_"Hang in their Mei, we'll meet them again,"_

_"But we just reunited, how can we be splitting up so soon?!"_

_"Bad luck, Mei, that's all we've had here. Just bad luck!"_

_"Yes...Lien, watch out!"_

_"No...no...Arthur...Francis...Sika...Don't split up..._Don't split up! NOO!"

"Lukas! Lukas, wake up!"

"Wh-wha-? Emil?"

"Lukas, what's wrong? You cried out 'Don't split up! Noo!'"

Lukas looks up at his younger brother, feeling the warmth of the Icelandic's hands his shoulders. "That's right...help me up, please Emil," Emil looks at his brother and the sheet white face and the haunted blue eyes. The Icelandic nods, gently helping his brother to a sitting position. "Where are the others?"

"Right here Norge!" Matthias says, his usually loud voice in a quieter tone, but still carrying.

"Why did you cry out, Lukas?" Tino questions, coming up to the Norwegian and kneeling down. He puts one hand on Lukas' knee as Matthias sits down on Lukas' other sids and puts a hand on the Norwegian's back. Closing his eyes, Lukas heaves a great sigh.

"C'mon Norge. Please tell us. We're your family," Mathias says softly, resting his other hand on Lukas' right hand. The Norwegian sighs again, opening his eyes.

"I had a vision," he starts, "of our friends. Not all of them, only a few. Sika, Arthur, Francis, Isabella, Yao, Alfred, Matthew, Kiku, Im Young, Mei, Lien, and a girl I didn't recognize but I got a strange feeling from. I think her name is Elizabeth,"

"All those nations?" Ivan asks, leaning against a tree.

"Ja. They were in a warehouse where Arthur was healing the others. Arthur healed Francis before there was a loud noise and the sealed warehouse door broke. In entered the...the counterparts of the Asians. Elizabeth then cried 'Scatter' and everyone split into pairs," Lukas closes his eyes, taking a deep, shaking breath before continuing. "Things started to get fuzzy then. So all I remember really clearly are voices and some disturbing images. I..I think Isabella was with Yao, Kiku was with Im Young, Francis was with Arthur, Alfred was with Matthew, Sika was with Elizabeth, and Mei was with Lien. They...they all separated, but were all chased by someone. And...and...Matthew got...oh, my...my head..." Lukas trails off, raising a hand to his head.

"Lukas?" Emil asks in worry, looking at his brother.

"S-sorry. Anyway, Matthew was attacked. Alfred and then Sika went to help him. The others ran off...I can't remember which counterparts went where. All I really know is that they should not have split up and that they are in great danger," Lukas finishes, his voice quaking.

_"Shit. Sh-shit. No! Yao!"_

_"It's...it's ok Bella. Something just...got my leg...aru,"_

_"Here...Come on!"_

_"Thank you Bella,"_

_"I'd never leave you behind,"_

"No. No, please not now. Why am I getting visions now?!" Lukas says in distress, clenching his already pale hands so they get even whiter and faint trickles of blood can be seen from both hands leaking onto the grass.

"Lukas, you're hurting yourself. Don't do that!" Emil says, looking over at Eduard as the Estonian comes over and kneels down next to his Icelandic friend.

"Yes, Lukas. You can share your visions with us," Eduard says, sincerity in his voice. When Lukas doesn't answer, Eduard looks over at Emil and Matthias before putting a gentle hand on his Nordic friend's shoulder. "Lukas?"

"No...mustn't..." the pale figure mutters in a barely audible voice, his eyes shut. He clenches his hands before a light fills the clearing and an image of a warehouse is projected to all those present.

"Sika!" Tino exclaims, his brown eyes going wide at the sight of his fellow Nordic swinging around her sword, cutting down strange looking animals. Animals that have two heads, or spikes coming from their backs, or have wings.

"Magical creatures," Emil mutters, his eyes never leaving the image on the ground. "That's what they're fighting. I don't know what they are called though,"

"Matthew's not moving..." Toris says quietly, pulling on Feliks' right arm and pointing to the ground. His green eyes are wide, filled with worry, and shock, and fear as voices and the sounds of battle fill the clearing.

_"Stay back! Get away from here!" Alfred cries out, shooting one of the creatures that are surrounding him and his three companions._

_"It's not going to work, Alfred," Elizabeth says, swinging her sword, "There's too many of them,"_

_"Ja. They will wear us out before we defeat them," Sika agrees, plunging the blade of her sword into the back of one of the creatures._

_"It must! The hero just can't let himself and his friends be defeated!" Alfred exclaims before one of the winged creatures lands on his head. Within moments the American is down, falling to his knees before falling forward and twisting to the right. His body lands with a resounding thump on the wood that crushes the spine of the creature. Taking a final swing of her sword, Sika rushes over to Alfred and drops to her knees._

_"Sika, no!" Elizabeth cries as she watches Sika's pets vanish below waves of creatures. "Fight now. We'll help Alfred later! Sika!" Elizabeth watches as a bolt of light cuts through Sika's chest, causing the Greenlandic female to convulse before falling backwards, her eyes glazed over. "No...no...NO" Elizabeth cries, dropping her sword and throwing up her hands. White light bunches around them before exploding around herself in a ever-growing ring that ends at the beginning of the hallways. Exhausted, Elizabeth collapses and slips into unconsciousness._

_"Yao, watch out!" you cry, your voice echoing around the hallway you and Yao are battling in. Swinging your shovel up and over Yao's head, pivoting around Yao and leaping in front of the black gun belonging to your counterpart. There is an explosion and you are thrown backward as the bullet impacts with your chest._

_"Isabella!" Yao exclaims, pivoting to catch you. "No..." He falls to his knees at a hit to the back from his counterpart's wok._

_"Brother!" Im Young cries out , stopping at the edge of the corridor with Kiku. Upon seeing his older brother fall to his knees, the Korean pulls out his weapon, two multi-tailed whipcords, and runs at your counterpart. Twirling his weapons, the Korean severely lacerates Stormfire and sends her flying towards China. In a few moments, the two counterparts vanish. "Brother..." he repeats, putting away his weapons. Im Young drops to his knees from both worry and over exertion._

_"Im Young, are you arright?" Kiku questions, moving up to his brothers and crouching down between his brothers._

_"I...don't know," Im Young answers truthfully. "I have pushed myself too hard...and brother is very..." Im Young trails off, slumping against Kiku, who quickly catches his brother and lowers him to the ground._

_"As much as I don't want to, sreeping...is a very good idea..." Kiku agreed quietly, moving to the wall and leaning against it. "Mei and Lien have already gone to sreep, so I should too," he adds in a whisper before going limp and sagging to the ground._

_"Arthur, vous are injured. Stay back!" Francis exclaims as the duo is cornered in a room. Removing his fleuret, the Frenchman pushes Arthur back towards the far wall before turning to fight the creatures._

_"Francis? What are-?" Arthur exclaims as his back hits the wall. "You're protecting me. You bloody frog," he mutters, "I didn't know you truly cared," Raising his hands, Arthur starts to mutter an incantation, ending it with a shove towards a large group of creatures. They burn up, bursting into flames and disappearing in seconds. Ignoring Francis' protests, the Englishman moves back up to stand back-to-back with his old friend. "The prefect gentleman does not let a friend fight alone," he whispers with a slight smirk._

_"Whatever you say, mon ami," Francis says in exasperation, returning his attention to battling._

_"Arthur! Watch out!" Francis cries out, grabbing his ally and shoving his out of the way of a wide bean of red light, taking the red beam to the chest in his stead. Arthur turns and watches everything happen in slow motion, springing forward and catching the injured Francis._

_"Francis? Francis!" When the Frenchman does not respond, Arthur gently places him on the wood floor and straightens up. "Go and tell me what hell is like!" he exclaims, stretching out his hands and giving a loud cry, followed by a loud explosion as the enemy creatures still left in the room are sent flying. Yellowish-white light fills the room, and Arthur feels his magical powers start to leave him and a blackness replace it. Feeling the spell finish, Arthur drops to his knees. "Bloody hell, I can hardly see. That spell really used up a lot of my power," he mutters, his hands feeling Francis' chest for a pulse. "Ah, he is alive, but just barely. I...I can't leave him like this. I must heal him enough to keep him from dying. But how...Oh, I need to...but that requires..." Arthur trails off, feeling his legs shake and then give out from underneath him. Landing hard on the ground, Arthur finds himself draped across his ally's chest. Groaning quietly, slightly happy that he was blind, the Englishman closes his sightless eyes and kisses his long time friend before slipping into blackness._

Toris stares at the ground as the images fade, too shocked to speak. "Are they...d-dead?" he finally asks.

"I, like, don't know Liet. They s-so look dead," Feliks stammers, holding onto the Lithuanian.

"Emil? How is Lukas?" Ivan asks, looking over to the white haired Nordic.

"He's unconscious," Emil replies, looking away from the Russian.

"W-what are we going to do?" Ravis stammers, his voice quavering.

"I don't know, Ravis," Eduard replies, swallowing and slowly getting up. He walks over to his Latvian friend and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, we can't do anything until Norge wakes up, so I suggest we all try to get some sleep," Matthias says, his voice carrying to everyone, but not in its usual loud tones.

"I agree," Natalia says in a quiet, hoarse voice. The usually stoic Belarusian had her hands clinging tightly to Ivan's causing her knuckles to turn white. Without another word, the countries gathered in the clearing all find places to doze, not wanting to leave the clearing even with the shocking events they had just witnessed.

Shutting his brown eyes tight, one thing crossed Tino's mind as he settled down into the grass close to Lukas. It was a poem that Isabella had written and recited to him when they had first met.

Burning Life

Burning up in everyday life are people,  
the souls of people.

Breaking down every night are those inner walls,  
the walls that keep the flames out.

Becoming no more is the perfect, whole life,  
for the burning life has begun.

Burning life of hell and pain,  
burning life of blood.  
Burning life of death and loss,  
burning life...of loving hell.


End file.
